Measurements of the thermal conductivity of amorphous materials with low dielectric constants

Abstract We report on measurements of the thermal conductivity of a number of amorphous materials, including several that have a low dielectric constant and which are of current interest for use as insulators in computer chips. The samples are thin films deposited onto Si substrates. Measurements are made using an optical technique in which the film is heated with a picosecond light pulse, and a time-delayed probe light pulse is used to measure the temperature of the film as a function of time. The measured thermal conductivity of these thin films is compared with the Cahill–Pohl theory of the thermal conductivity of amorphous solids.